Community Builder Conference - Nov 2,3

An amazing conference with Shane Claiborne, David Adcock and many more. Details and registration are here:

http://newsongwindsor.blogspot.ca/2012/10/blog-post.html

WWJD WITH THE PROVINCIAL BUDGET?

In Ontario, a single person receives under $600 per month if they are on social assistance. With that amount they are expected to pay rent, buy groceries, travel to job interviews and take care of essential needs.

If that single person is disabled, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) pays up to $979 per month.[i]

If you qualify to receive this government assistance, it is likely that you have been unable to find employment that will provide better than this. Even if you work full-time at a job paying minimum wage, you will still make an annual income that falls below the poverty line.

If you have special dietary needs because of a health condition, food allergy or disease you may qualify for up to an additional $250 per month.

Last Monday[ii] in Toronto, Doctor Roland Wong appeared before the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for a disciplinary hearing to determine whether he followed professional standards in prescribing the special food allowance to more than 14,000 patients.[iii]

He did this so that poor people could eat healthy food. He is being investigated to see if he stretched the rules in order to provide nutrition to people who did not qualify to eat healthy.

Dr. Wong did not come to his hearing alone. ‘His poor supporters rolled in with walkers, combat boots and a red banner that declared “Raise Welfare and Disability Rates.” ‘[iv]

It is well documented that poverty and poor health go together. The more money you have, the greater the likelihood of living longer and healthier. If you address poverty, you reduce the need for healthcare.

In one of the richest nations of the world, we do not provide enough for our most vulnerable citizens. With the current release of the Ontario budget, there is a freeze on social assistance and disability allowances.

In a press release this past week, a group known as ‘Doctors And Lawyers For Fair Taxation’ [v]appealed to finance minister Dwight Duncan to have fair taxation practices. They are high wage earners who are saying ‘Tax us. We can afford it.’ They recognize that taxation most affects the poorest.

If there are doctors and lawyers who feel a responsibility to the poor, what is to be our response to addressing poverty and equity issues?

New Song Church identifies itself as a group of people called by God to get involved in poverty. This is a passion for us. People who attend this church long term tend to have compassion for the well being of others.

The theologian Frederick Buechner said, ‘The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s hunger meet.’[vi]

I hope that you have discovered the deep gladness that comes from God and responded to the hunger of the world.

As followers of Jesus Christ, how are we to live in response to the world around us? The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for the poor and bad news for the rich. Is Jesus bringing you good news or bad?

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[i] http://www.toronto.ca/housing/pdf/ODSP.pdf

[ii] Monday, March 26^th, 2012

[iii] http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1064145--porter-robin-hood-doctor-gave-to-the-poor-but-earned-big-money

[iv] http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1064145--porter-robin-hood-doctor-gave-to-the-poor-but-earned-big-money

[v] http://doctorsforfairtaxation.ca/2012/03/doctors-and-lawyers-to-duncan-tax-us-ontario-is-worth-it/

[vi] Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76809.Wishful_Thinking

BUY BREAD WITHOUT MONEY

I believe that churches everywhere can make a serious impact on poverty in their community. All you need is Jesus, some fish and bread and a table.

Consider this article from the Windsor Star. I would love to chat with you about how your church can start to change the face of poverty in your city.

Shining a light on Windsor homelessness

NON-NEGOTIABLES IN MINISTRY

“What are three non-negotiable principles upon which I base my pastoral ministry?”

1. Humility
2. Listening
3. Grace

The scripture says Jesus knew who he was, where he came from and where he was going.  This is the foundation of humility.  We cannot serve humbly if we feel the need to constantly defend and explain ourselves.  Knowing that we are children of the Father and having a sense of our own history and destiny gives us the freedom to be who we truly are.  Humility keeps us from getting overly self-absorbed.

The ministry of listening must be rooted in humility.  If we are willing to listen to those above us and those below us, God will always have something to say through them.  We must meet the challenge of listening without rushing to our agenda for that moment.  If we feel that those in authority above us are unsuitable, we stop listening.  If we feel that someone is below us, we are tempted to stop listening or hear what we want to find fault.

Isaiah said the Messiah would not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick.  That would be grace.  If I do not practice grace in my ministry to others, I lose sight of what it means to be a pastor.  Jesus takes a ‘bruised reed’ and binds it up.  He adds support to sustain the life in that person.  The one who has lost their fire is not snuffed out, but nurtured back to flame.

It is my prayer that New Song Church will embrace these qualities in greater measure.  This three-fold braid makes for a strong rope.  Humility, listening and grace – that ought to pull a big load.

SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE

My friends John & Colleen Kosti are part of the church I pastor.  They also run a community agency across the road called 'Spirit Of Excellence'.  This video is the best demonstration of the heart they have for what they do.

Colleen is leaving in a few days to visit friends in India where they will investigate opening a Spirit Of Excellence Center.

Great to see so many familiar faces in this video.

ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS

Local journalist Frances Willick wrote a piece on the neighbourhood our church ministers in.  She had a front page article today in the Windsor Star.  Check it out:

http://www.windsorstar.com/Drouillard+Road+Down/3316330/story.html

URBAN CRY SCHOOL OF MISSION

New Song Church has embarked on an ambitious endeavor to train and equip people who feel an impulse to work among the poor through church ministry and social agencies.

We have had a distant admiration for ministries like JPUSA, Tony Campolo, Urban Promise, New York School Of Urban Ministry, Yonge St. Mission, Evangelicals For Social Action, The Foundry in Nashville, and a handful of others.

A question for Canadians interested in moving downtown is where to get an experience that also has an academic component.  Through a partnership with Global University, we are beginning a one year internship program that includes 10 Bible College courses recognized internationally by the Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada and the Assemblies Of God.

We have a site with lots of details.  Check it out and feel free to write or call me if you want to know more.

Go to:  http://urbancryschoolofmission.blogspot.com

CHURCH MULTIPLICATION

Western Ontario District of PAOC believes in church multiplication.  Here is a video featuring New Song Church and Lifeline Church.

PARISH NURSING

For a few years, one of our staff members ran a parish nurse ministry at the church.  She has long since gotten married and moved on to other pastoral responsibilities with her husband John.  Laura (Hodgins) Lankin described her ministry this way:

_______________________________________

Three years ago, a Parish Nursing ministry was born in Windsor at New Song Church by a nurse who prayed, “How can I show the love of Christ to people in a practical way?”  The response was Vital Signs Health Ministries.  This is not a highly visible ministry, but a much needed and appreciated by everyone who’s life is touched by a Parish Nurse.

A Parish Nurse is a registered nurse that is part of the pastoral leadership of a church.  Some aspects of this ministry include hospital and home visitation, praying with the sick, referrals to community resources, health promotion, assessment and counseling.  The Parish Nurses at New Song Church joined one of the parish nursing organizations called Inter-Church Health Ministries based in Oshawa for support and training.  From this partnership, we learned:

     *Parish Nurses are not just nurses working in a church building.

     *Parish Nurses do not replace or duplicate any services already offered in the community.

     *Parish Nurses do not work alone, but in collaboration with a health committee and church leadership.

Parish Nurses are specially trained to incorporate nursing care with spiritual care of the church and community.

For almost three years, I was a Parish Nurse at New Song Church.  I had the privilege of finding some potentially serious health problems and referring these people to a physician before their condition became symptomatic; praying with people in often desperate situations; organizing a smoking cessation group; lice checks; and growing to know and love the people of this inner city community and church.  Although most often behind the scenes here at New Song Church, Parish Nursing has become an intricate part of this church and community.  My hope is that other church leaders see Parish Nursing as a practical ministry to both the church and secular community.  

                                               

Laura Hodgins RN, B.TH

SUNRISE ON THE SIDEWALK SKYLINE

Jazz legend Hoagy Carmichael had a song ‘Big Town Blues’. A phrase he sang paints a vivid picture.


‘I’m in a bargain basement with a sidewalk skyline.’


Children growing up in the core of urban centers may look out the window of a basement apartment and see the sidewalk.  I want to invite you to be part of the sunrise on the sidewalk skyline. 




Over 85% of Canadians live in urban centers in major population hubs.  The gap between the haves and have-nots is a growing chasm. The rich get richer and the poor get by with less.


If Canada were the rich man in Jesus’ parable, then the urban poor are our beggar by the gate. You may not see them, though. We have great security systems, geographic barriers and locked up churches to keep the beggars out at the street.


City planners and business people work hard to create presentation on the major downtown streets.BIAs’ (Business Improvement Areas) are cooperative efforts between city hall and the local business people of a given neighbourhood. Both want to see taxpayer dollars spent to beautify and improve the face of the city. When people go downtown, they need to feel safe, visually intrigued and interested in spending their money. Sculptures, murals, architecture, and green space combine with public transit systems, traffic routes, entertainment and parking garages to give people a pleasant face on the city. To the chagrin of some city fathers the homeless, the mentally ill and the ill-equipped also show up to share the space. Police, social services and missions dot the streetscape to facilitate the neediest and the most unfortunate.


When you get behind the ‘movie set façade’ of downtown, you encounter the real ‘downtown’ where the poor live.


I pastor New Song Church, one of Windsor’s tougher neighbourhoods with its share of social challenges. My building is an old bar on a dingy street. There is more plywood on the buildings of my neighbourhood than there are windows.


When you go on the backstreets and alleys of our cities, you discover the living conditions not visible to the passerby.


In Windsor, the AIDS committee has a needle exchange program that collected 200,000 used syringes last year from drug users exchanging dirty needles for a clean kit. That is 200,000 needles that would have otherwise been dropped in alleys, parks and garbage containers.


A friend of mine who used to work for Compassion was with me when we visited a couple who lived in the neighbourhood. The living conditions were deplorable. The furnace was not working, the bathroom lacked hot water and the clutter and filth was overwhelming. My friend remarked afterward that it was worse than the poverty he had seen in third world countries, where they at least managed to keep things reasonably clean and tidy.


When you get to the real downtown, there are children like Kenny who at 10 years of age has tried crack and steals everything he can. Kenny goes with his mom in the wee hours of the night to make drug deliveries. Kenny drops by the church to drink coffee. Kenny came to camp with us and still needs Jesus.


When you go downtown, make a detour. Behind the façade you will find the real downtown. Pray for the sun to rise on the sidewalk skyline.